Lords of the Fallen II: Steel & Sorcery Shows Off the New Combat

The latest episode of Lifting the Veil is out, and it's the most extensive look yet at the combat in Lords of the Fallen II. Titled 'Steel & Sorcery', Episode 11 covers a major overhaul of melee, magic and ranged combat, with new abilities, more weapon variety and more freedom to experiment. If you played the original Lords of the Fallen, you'll notice plenty has changed.

The developers say the changes are built on feedback from the community and aim to make every encounter more fluid, aggressive and rewarding. Below is a summary of everything the episode shows.

Weapons and Quickfire Abilities

Combat takes a big step forward with almost 30 fully distinct weapon movesets, nearly double the number in Lords of the Fallen (2023). Each weapon class has its own maneuvers, from repositioning strikes and endless combo chains to sweeping area-of-effect attacks. One-handed and two-handed styles are more distinct, and new counterstrikes and boss weapons with signature attacks add more depth.

Mid-combo weapon switching is one of the biggest additions. You can swap between two different melee loadouts without breaking the flow of combat. Start with a flurry of dual dagger strikes, then go straight into a scythe swing, all within a single combo.

Quickfire abilities let you instantly unleash ranged attacks, magic or buffs without changing stances. Each melee loadout gets two of them, so you can launch a javelin mid-combo, enhance your weapons in an instant or weave spells into your attacks.

Magic and Ranged Combat

Spellcasters and ranged fighters get dedicated stances that now offer the same mobility as melee combat. Here's what the episode confirms:

• Magic: you can equip up to four instantly castable spells per catalyst, and swap with a button press to a second catalyst for another four spells.
• Spell variety: chargeable spell variants and seven distinct schools of magic are included.
• Mana: you can restore mana through the Sanguinarix.
• Ranged: all bows and crossbows arrive with an infinite base ammo type, while more powerful ammunition can be replenished at ammunition stations around the world.

Freedom to Experiment

Quality-of-life changes make it easier to try different playstyles. You can now recover weapon upgrades for a small cost, which should make switching weapons easier in the later stages of the game, when you may have already invested heavily in a previous one.

Alongside the episode, the team also released two minutes of brand-new gameplay showing the expanded arsenal, new combat abilities and the versatility of ranged and magic builds. You can read the full announcement on the official Steam post. The developers say there's still plenty more to reveal in future episodes.

While you wait, our guides on the best early game weapons and how stats and soft caps work cover the first game.